


Tragic Visions

by fengirl88



Category: Bacchae - Euripides
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Dismemberment, poem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-17 16:44:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4674026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fengirl88/pseuds/fengirl88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seeing clearly is a perilous business</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tragic Visions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kalypso](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalypso/gifts).



> Written for the fan_flashworks Amnesty challenge prompt, Not What It Looks Like.
> 
> This is for Kalypso, after our trip to Bakkhai at the Almeida.

_Now you see as you should see_  
the bull-headed stranger says  
as you gaze at the two suns  
in the sky above Thebes.

He directs your Bakkhic disguise,  
tucks a stray lock of hair into place,  
and you shiver with pleasure.  
_Lovely. I'm in your hands._

So you are, poor stupid Pentheus:  
your cousin Dionysos' hands,  
though you don't know it yet,  
won't know it till too late.

Quarry and sacrifice,  
you go to meet your fate,  
torn apart on mount Kithairon  
like your cousin Aktaion.

Your mother, mad Agave,  
sits with your head in her lap,  
gloating over her kill  
while your grandfather Kadmos weeps.

 _What's wrong?_ she asks,  
_Is something the matter?_  
and her father says  
_First look up at the sky_.


End file.
